


Dear Kylo Ren

by dryless (orphan_account)



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Eventual Smut, F/M, Rating May Change, Slow Burn, and before i forget, because I need fluff in my life, because d’uh it’s reylo, but some angst, i always forget something, minimal angst, snarky rey, this is a Daddy-Long-Legs AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-18
Updated: 2018-10-05
Packaged: 2019-07-14 02:23:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16031015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/dryless
Summary: “Fine. I’ll call you in an hour.”“Don’t bother. I’ve fixed the fuel pump, but I won’t have time to get it reinstalled until tomorrow.”The words that followed out of his mouth were mostly muffled but she caught the‘British’and the‘brat’. After a moment of this he sighed and demanded, “I’ll pay you double if you take care of it today.”Rey flinched, and the irritation grew until it was gnawing at the lining of her stomach. “That’s awfullygenerousof you, but that will only be helpful in the short run. I’ve got more obligations today. Your car will have to wait until tomorrow.”“I’ll pay you triple.”Rey sighed heavily. “Unless you want to pay for my rent for the next five months as well as pay for four years of tuition for the college of my choice, you’ll just have to wait until tomorrow. Goodbye Mr. Ren.”After helping a rich man out with his car, Rey receives the opportunity of a lifetime. Rey accepts, even if she’s forced to write letters by hand (who on earth still does that?!) to the enigmatic Kylo Ren.A Daddy-Long-Legs AU.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Dalzo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dalzo/gifts).



> For Dalzo, because she lives to make everyone suffer. With her A+ angst. And pictures of her house pets. (Noooo, they're not the good kind of pet pics *smh* Why do you think this is a Daddy-Long-Legs AU?)
> 
> Thank you, [AKnightofWren](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AKnightOfWren) for reading this over! You're the best! <3
> 
> The kindest and sweetest [a_wee_bit_dolally](https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_wee_bit_dolally) made a playlist to go with this! Here's the link to [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/user/qexzgt8rmn51d24ygmhydgcvb/playlist/16LogHhzVMKMBslq3EYDnZ?si=VrEnrwyvQoi2r_OPB17PrA) (A mixture of college pop mostly, but a bit of iconic songs thrown in there, as well as a few Swedish songs from my own college era for good measure haha)

The only thing that stood in the way of Rey’s happiness?

Money.

M. O. N. E. Y.

Five letter word. Didn’t really say much, but it was something missing in her life. Always had been. Probably, always would.

At least, that’s how it felt like, especially for the last six months and a half since Finn had left to study at bloody Harvard of all places, and Rey was left here in Jakku, struggling to make ends meet after she’d been left with their previously shared apartment that was too expensive for its place and its size and everything. Not to mention that their super was a dick, and refused to fix the leaking faucet in the kitchen… er, kitchenette. (Yes, she fixed it on her own instead.)

Rey wasn’t willing to give up the apartment either. She knew Finn would come home eventually, over the summer at the very least, and what kind of friend was she if she moved away and didn’t have enough space for him to come home to?

Anyway, that’s how Rey had to work three part-time jobs to get around. Driving a car to get around to her three jobs was out of the question—and she didn’t have a driver’s license to begin with (not that the police around here gave a damn if she drove with one or not). It was too expensive to keep a car anyway. So instead, she trusted her old bike—found and meticulously pieced together in the scrap yard she _“worked”_ in as a kid—to take her everywhere, quick as lightning…

Well. Not really.

She’d woken up late for her shift at the car shop—again—and said car shop lay five miles outside of Jakku. As the only garage in Jakku or rather the only decent one, whose owner wouldn’t try to swindle you off and often went the extra mile in case the customer wasn’t an ass, Baze had the privilege of a wide client base, despite his far-off location.

To Rey, however, it meant biking that distance every Monday to Friday morning and get back to downtown Jakku by afternoon for her shift at either the grocery store or the coffeeshop—or both. This morning was no different, and seeing as she was running late Rey ran out of her apartment and near vaulted on top of her bike—blue tinted but mostly rusty—and sped down the street, took a right then a left, which brought her out on the big road out of town.

She accelerated, put in the highest gear and as she pedaled down the road towards Baze’s shop she watched the coming and going traffic. Nobody ever stopped in Jakku, people just passed through. Rey usually knew just by the make and age of the cars who was just passing through, and who lived in Jakku (well, she mostly knew which cars belonged to any of the Jakku dwellers).

Passing through. Passing through. Passing through. All three cars looked fresh, new, and no dents, no scrapes, not always clean because the roads were dirty from the surrounding desert landscape.

Passing through. Passing through. A Jakkuite, Ivano Troade, gave her a small wave as he passed her, Rey nodded back.

Passing through. Jakkuite. Passing through, and, _Hello_ , two Jakkuites in a row.

The glare of the sun on the approaching car’s windshield blinded her for a moment. Rey grunted and squinted in response and continued pedaling frantically across the hill. Not far now. One more mile.

The car slowed down, and as it did questions rushed through her head. Why was it stopping? Were they going to hail her? As it looked the car seemed to crawl to a halt just as it would reach her. Were they going to stop and ask her for directions? This was basically a straight road, why would they do that?

Suddenly the car made several jolting motions, the driver hit the brakes and crossed over the edge of the road. 

Instinctively, Rey slowed down. She’d pass them by, maybe hear if they needed any help. She recognized the sound of the car for what it was—nothing more than a rookie mistake. That driver must not know their car very well. Or at all.

The driver side door opened, and a mousy man peeped out. “Hey! Do you know any car shops around here?”

Rey stopped a few meters from the car, wiped the sweat from her brow and squinted at the brown-haired man. He looked cool—as in cool from the car’s working air conditioning— but he kept passing panicked fleeting gazes towards the back of the car.

“Sure. There’s one just down the road. Baze can probably pick you up.”

The man flinched. “You’re not Amer-”

Rey rolled her eyes and started pedaling, the rapid turn of the wheel tossing dirt behind her. “I’ll tell Baze to send a truck.”

“Th- Thank you,” the man stuttered, but Rey was already too far to look back.

 

Rey’s usual position at the shop was on her back and underneath a car. As the tiniest of the crew, with the strongest yet smallest hands, she always got those jobs. She didn’t mind. The work underneath the cars was rough, but it kept her mind occupied and blessedly empty until she had to get going to her other jobs.

But she still heard Baze enter the lot with his tow truck and the subsequent slamming of both doors of the truck. Voices followed, Baze’s dark and raspy, the soft tenor of the man who’d stopped and asked for her help, and then—a deep barytone snapped her to attention.

Rey stopped what she was doing and looked to the side, trying to see out from underneath the car. She could see Baze’s legs from this angle and the two other men stood behind Baze’s truck. She could only make out the dark shapes of their feet and calves.

“How long?” asked the deep voice again, an impatient snap to it.

He didn’t sound very nice, even if his voice was strangely compelling.

“A day. Two at the most. But if you destroyed the fuel pump and it needs replacing, you’re looking at a week.”

“Sir. We can rent a car and come back for your car later.”

“Uh, don’t mean to disappoint,” Baze interjected, “but there are no rentals in Jakku. And cabs don’t come out this far.”

For a moment there was only silence and the howl of the Jakku winds on the metal walls before she heard footsteps retreating, and a low mutter of expletives.

“Please tell me you have a loaner at least?” the tenor asked.

“No problem,” Baze replied, and as the two came inside the shop, Rey hurried up with her work.

She rolled out from underneath just as Baze handed over the paperwork to the man.

Rey got a closer look at him, this time taking in the man’s suit, the cut and fabric of it, the cut of his hair and the condescending gaze in his eyes as he studied the dirtied animal who’d just risen from the floor. Rich city folks, probably from one of the big cities west of Jakku or some other place. Too good for this place.

He startled when he recognized her. “Hey, you’re that gi-”

Rey interrupted him with a wave of her rag. She wiped off her hands, only eliminating a fraction of the soot, oil, and rust.

“Petrol in a diesel tank? You’ll be lucky if the fuel pump didn’t combust.”

The narrow face reddened. “You already knew?”

Rey shrugged.

Baze snickered. “If the fuel pump’s busted, you’re in luck. Rey can fix just about anything,” he said proudly and patted her on the shoulder as he passed her into his office.

The man stared at her for a longer moment than required before he reached out his hand to her. From his fingers dangled a pair of car keys.

“Be careful with it? Mr. Ren will kill me if something happens to it.”

Rey gazed at the man evenly. _Ah, so that’s how it was_. Suddenly the nervous appearance of the man made more sense.

“Don’t worry. She’ll be right as rain,” she said, with confidence in her voice.

 

Rey made a first survey of the car and found that the car indeed had a busted fuel pump. She started with emptying the car of petrol, then she sent a text to the left behind number by the mousy man, that the fuel pump was broken, and she’d get back to him later if she needed to order a new one.

Rey sat and ate her lunch, a couple of simple cheese sandwiches, no lettuce, when her phone called.

“Hello.”

“How long is later?” asked the deep and velvety voice she’d heard earlier. The hair at her neck lifted, and she shivered despite the steady thirty degrees in the garage.

“Excuse me?”

“You sent your last text two hours ago. Haven’t you checked the fuel pump yet?”

Rey bristled. It hadn’t been two hours just yet. Ten more minutes and it would be two hours.

Rey glanced over to where said piece lay cleaned, repaired and reassembled on her workbench. “Uh, yeah.”

“So how will it be?”

The impatience in his words annoyed her, and she took a big bite of her sandwich and chewed loudly into the mouthpiece.

“Am I rushing you or something?” he asked.

Rey rolled her eyes. “No. But I sure would like to eat my lunch in peace,” Rey replied.

A beat passed, then two, then three. “ _You_ picked up when I called.”

“Yeah, well, I’m regretting that now,” she said simply and continued to chew on her lunch.

A groan reverberated through her ear. For some reason, the sound had her blushing and she was suddenly thankful she was all alone.

“Fine. I’ll call you in an hour.”

“Don’t bother. I’ve fixed the fuel pump, but I won’t have time to get it reinstalled until tomorrow.”

Another groan. Rey’s cheeks were already the reddest they could’ve been. The words that followed out of his mouth were mostly muffled but she caught the _‘British’_ and the _‘brat’_. After a moment of this he sighed and demanded, “I’ll pay you double if you take care of it today.”

Rey flinched, and the irritation grew until it was gnawing at the lining of her stomach. “That’s awfully _generous_ of you, but that will only be helpful in the short run. I’ve got more obligations today. Your car will have to wait until tomorrow.”

“I’ll pay you triple.”

Rey sighed heavily. “Unless you want to pay for my rent for the next five months as well as pay for four years of tuition for the college of my choice, you’ll just have to wait until tomorrow. Goodbye Mr. Ren.”

And with that, she ended the call, her eyes and mouth wide in horror at herself. What the _kriff_ had gotten into her?

Rey covered her still gaping mouth.

There was just something about him. His voice… and her reaction to it (this was said by a strangely caustic voice). But not only that—the demeaning nature of his words—she wasn’t about to _obey_ him just because he was used to having people at his beck and call. She _obviously_ didn’t mind rubbing that in his face.

But that reaction… She felt disgusted with herself. He could be seventy for all she knew—she sincerely hoped he wasn’t-

_No! What’s wrong with you?_

He was a rich patronizing bastard who most likely always got everything he wanted exactly the way he wanted them. She wanted nothing to do with him. Him being seventy or whatever was preferable.

Another flush took over her face at the thought of being with an old man.

“Get a grip, Rey,” she muttered and wiped the crumbs off her hands violently.

“Hey, who you talking to?” Baze called out from his office.

“No one.”

“Don’t you have another job to get to?”

“Mmhmm.”

“Well, get to it then.”

“Yes, sir.”

 

After she’d checked out with Baze, Rey worked a seven-hour shift at the grocery store, before she went to her final shift of the day at the weird mix of coffee shop and drug store. No, Rey had no idea why it was both, but that’s the way it was. She got there a little before 8 pm to release her coworker, and thanks to the lack of customers at this time, Rey could pull out her textbooks (one loaner from the library, not the correct edition but it had to make do, and one used, also not the correct edition since it was five years younger than the one stated in the curriculum) and catch up on her online classes.

Online classes was all she could afford, let alone have time with. An online diploma was hard to pull off, but Rey was stubborn. She much preferred the word persistent, but Finn always liked to use the other word, and she always responded in kind with that he was a pushover—which he totally was.

No. She _used_ to say that. And Finn _used_ to say that she was the most stubborn person he knew.

What was he up to now? Now that she finally had some time to herself, trying and failing to lose herself in the awfully dry text in front of her. She considered pulling up Youtube on her phone and take advantage of the free wifi at the cafe. But instead, she thought of Finn and how she missed his annoying presence. 

The doorbell chimed and a customer walked in. Rey only spared the customer a glance as she pulled out her earphones and straightened up to take an order or help out with a purchase.

“You again,” said the customer. Rey whipped her head up to look at him.

“Hi again.”

“My boss was furious after you hung up on him.”

“I guess Mr. Ren doesn’t get a no very often, right?”

“No, he does not.” He shook his head. The man looked exhausted, and Rey tried not to worry too much about causing him trouble, however indirect. 

“What can I do for you Mr…?”

“Mitaka, but call me Dopheld please.”

“I’m Rey. Rey with an e.”

Dopheld frowned and nodded. “What’s your last name?”

Rey shrugged. “Does it matter?”

Dopheld stared at her a moment too long, and she almost squirmed under his scrutiny. She wasn’t going to blab her information to all random strangers coming into her shop. “I guess not,” he finally said.

Rey released her breath slowly and flipped a switch on the machine. “You look like a cappuccino man.”

Dopheld lit up like a Christmas tree. “Yes, thank you.” He said and sighed. “And a triple espresso for my boss.”

Rey raised a brow. “Okay. So he doesn’t sleep at all at night?”

Dopheld smiled. “He’s a bit of a bat, yes.”

“Why am I not surprised?”

Rey made him the coffee while Dopheld studied the insides of the shop. There wasn’t much to see and his gaze soon landed on her study materials. “You study?”

“Yes.”

“ _What_ do you study?”

“Uhm… A little bit of this, a little of that? It’s not like I have time to follow a program with my three jobs.”

Dopheld held silent for a while, obviously turning over her words in his head. “Okay. What do you want to study?”

“I’d like to study at CorTech. Something technological. I’m good with taking something old and used and make it better,” she said, writing Dopheld on the cappuccino sleeve and something else entirely for the espresso sleeve. She handed Dopheld the drinks.

“Good with the hands?”

Rey shrugged. _Something like that_. “Yeah. I guess so.”

Dopheld studied her again. “And why can’t you go? You seem smart enough to get a scholarship.”

Rey avoided his gaze and turned away to clean up the nonexistent dishes, rinse the sink and whatever in hopes he’d go away.

He was still there when she turned back. She gave him an annoyed stare, but he only waited patiently for her to say something.

“Why are you still here?”

Dopheld tilted his head. “Why are you?”

And with that he walked out of the shop.

 

Rey muttered all the way home, and all the while she made ready for bed. She slept fitfully and woke up just as annoyed as the evening before, and nearly ran over a medium sized rock some truck must have chucked from its load on her way to work.

“Coffee?” asked Baze as she turned up, handing her a mug without waiting for her reply.

“Thanks.”

“Are you done with that Mr. Ren’s car?”

“Almost. Just a final detail.”

Baze gave her a look. “What are you planning?”

Rey shook her head, trying to hide her smile behind the rim of her cup. “Absolutely nothing.”

Baze poured his coffee on the ground. “Whatever. Just don’t piss anyone off.”

Rey smiled then. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

“I should fire you.”

“You won’t. I’m your best mechanic.”

Baze sighed. “Don’t get in trouble.”

“I promise I won’t,” Rey said cheekily and waved to Baze as she turned to put Mr. Ren’s car back together.

 

Rey was in her usual position, on her back underneath yet another car when the two men came back to pick up the car. At first, she didn’t realize they were there, all too lost in the comforting motions of her hands, but as she reached for the screwdriver on her right she felt a presence at the vicinity of her feet. She looked down, and true enough, she saw a pair of legs and feet standing lewdly close to her—almost right between her feet. 

“Mr. Baze tells me you could have had my car ready yesterday,” Mr. Ren said.

Rey’s spine straightened, and she desperately wanted to get out. If only to wipe the smile she could hear in Ren’s voice off his face or to holler at Baze to get off her back. There truly was no need for Baze to call her out like that.

“Yeah, well… my shift was over.”

“Ah, if you say so.”

Rey wasn’t sure if it was anger or something else that made her heart beat rise so fast.

“You know I can get up so we can talk face to face,” she said and made ready to slide out from underneath, but Ren put his foot up against hers and her push died out in an instant.

“No no. Stay down there. I don’t want to interrupt your _important_ work.”

The weird thing was, that even though those words should’ve sounded patronizing, the man somehow sounded far from it.

It could also be that she was still mulling over her reaction to the strength in his legs. Her lungs emptied of air.

It was shock, she decided. Nothing else.

“Goodbye, Miss Rey.”

Rey stayed down there until she heard the diesel engine start and putter steadily and they drove away.

 

Life went back to normal after that. Rey didn’t have much time to think on Dopheld or the enigmatic Mr. Ren. She continued to bike back and forth between her too expensive apartment, her three jobs and the library where she’d get a lot better amount of studying done than at home where she could her hear neighbors through the thin walls. Also, free wifi.

Eventually, she forgot about the entire thing. The name Dopheld slipped from her mind, as did Mr. Ren. Baze and Rey worked mostly with the cars belonging to the inhabitants of Jakku, and there was no end in sight when it came to the small repairs, oil shifts and the occasional reinstallment of brakes due to the aridness of the Jakku desert.

So when a sleek black car with Coruscant plates rolled into the lot, Rey could only vaguely recall that it had been there once before.

And he, the mousy faced man—oh right, Dopheld—stepped out and smiled nervously, a brown manila tucked underneath his arm.

Rey wiped her hands uselessly on her coveralls legs and went out to greet him.

“I hope that isn’t a serving under your arm.”

“Why would I…? Oh.” Dopheld pulled out the envelope. “No. This is for you, but it’s nothing like that.”

Rey stared at the new paper, conscious of the dirt on her hands. “I need to wash up first.”

“Of course,” he said and followed her inside.

 

Rey served him coffee. She wasn’t entirely certain that envelope held good news, and needed something to help soften the blow. But Dopheld eased her mind as soon as she sat down.

“Mr. Ren was very impressed by what you did with his car.”

Rey grinned. She wished she could’ve been there when Ren found out what she’d done. “He noticed, did he? Is he with you by the way?”

Dopheld waved a hand. “No, he’s a very busy man. So he sent me to give you this.” Dopheld pushed the envelope in front of her. 

Rey opened the brown paper precariously, ready to bolt in case it actually contained a serving. A thick stack of white papers peeked out from under the paper. She pulled them out and stared at the document. It sure looked pretty similar to what she imagined a serving would look like. But the front of it read, _CONTRACT,_ and underneath it, her own name right next to _Kylo Ren._

Rey swallowed and tried to contain her blush. Her mind went somewhere it really shouldn’t go. So maybe she hadn’t forgotten entirely about Mr. Ren and his strong legs.

But she doubted this was as salacious a contract as her mind somehow wanted it to be.

“What- What’s this?” she croaked out. She browsed through the papers, but it was hard to comprehend everything when it was all law terms and jargon she was unfamiliar with.

“Mr. Ren wants to pay for your tuition at the college of your choosing,” Dopheld explained.

Rey’s breath shallowed, and a frown grew on her brow. “I’m sorry, _what_?”

“Mr. Ren want-”

Rey cut him off. “No, I heard you. I just…” Swallowing she let go of the paper and turned fully to Dopheld. “ _Why_? Why would he do that? And why me?”

This couldn’t be happening. This was beyond her wildest dream, and Rey’s skepticism told her this was a joke. Or maybe she was dreaming and her brain was just starting to catch on to the dream.

“I really don’t understand why an unknown man would pay for my education,” she continued.

“I’m not sure I can give you a good explanation.”

“You can’t? Because _this-_ ” Rey held up the contract, “-this thing just reeks of classist patronizing.”

Dopheld’s shoulder rose up to meet his ears as he tensed. From discomfort or something else, she couldn’t tell. “He was afraid you wouldn’t accept _gracefully_.”

He _what?!_

Rey nearly tossed the document in Mitaka’s face, but calmed down, remembering this man was nothing but a messenger. 

“Oh _really_?”

If he’d been nervous sweating before, Dopheld was practically the Niagara falls by now. “It’s why he wants something from you in return.”

Rey sat back in surprise. “Huh? What could he possibly want from me?” Then her useless mind thought of the worst possible scenario. “Is this some sort of sexual thing?”

Dopheld’s eyes widened comically, and he coughed into his hand longer than warranted. “No! No, that’s not at all what he wants. Far from it!”

“Okay... So what does he want?” 

Dopheld folded his right leg over his left knee and steepled his fingers, a look of anxious concentration on his face. Rey waited patiently, even if her insides was almost hurting from not snapping at the man to hurry up. 

Finally he sighed, long and loudly as he leaned closer to her, and muttered something intelligible. 

“I’m sorry, what was that?”

Clearing his throat, he tried again. And this time she heard it all. She nearly laughed out loud from the incredulity of it. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“I’m not,” he said, and now he started to look constipated from repeating himself. “Mr. Ren wants you to write him actual handwritten letters.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this will not be only letters because boo that will be boring. I don’t know if any of you are into Solavellan, but there’s a lovely WIP Daddy-Long-Legs AU that I draw some inspiration from. If any of you are interested it’s called [Dear FenHarel](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11319069/chapters/25334535) by Blarfkey. I hope you won’t find many similarities, but it’s so good and I’m very easily influenced haha so I’m just covering my bases here, and truly, if you’re into Solavellan (or not!) do check it out!
> 
> And um… I’m gonna tag this as M to begin with, probably because of language and stuffs like that, but knowing me this will most likely eventually climb up into E just so you know.
> 
> And, yes, another WIP. I'm so sorry. [AttackoftheDarkCurses](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AttackoftheDarkCurses) is evil, enabling my addiction. (Yes, I've got more WIPs on the way. No, I'm not entirely certain Attack knows what's best for me) Tbh no one in [The Writing Den](https://thereylowritingden.tumblr.com) was much help in stopping me. *sigh*


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so let me start with thanking all of you! I was completely unprepared for how this would take off, haha. I did not expect how thirsty you were for a Mr Sugar Daddy/Daddy-Long-Legs AU ;P
> 
> And for the first time (haha, and maybe the only time) someone has of their own volition made fanart for one of my fics! Thank you so much, KindnessinPain! I truly can't thank you enough <3  
> [And here it is!](https://www.tumblr.com/dashboard/blog/kindnessinpain2000/178488782516)
> 
> Thank you Wren, for reading this through <3

_“You’re joking with me,”_ Rey said suspiciously, tensing her eyes at him, hoping for something to crack.

Mitaka put the contract in front of her. “I _wish_. I don’t know why Mr. Ren wants you to write him letters, but it’s definitely in there, black on white. I suggest you take it home and study it, think on it.”

And then he proceeded to give her his card and left her on her own.

Rey did as prompted, took the contract home and studied it. Somewhat futilely. She noticed all the places she was supposed to sign, but no words made any sense.

Calling Finn had been born not only out of a desperate longing for comfort—though she refused to admit that Ren had turned her world upside down—but also because this was sort of his area of study, so if anyone should help it would be law student Finn Storm.

 _“You’re kidding me, right?!”_ was Finn’s eloquent response.

“Why would I joke with you about something like this?” Rey rolled her eyes. “A person—a real person—wants to pay for my education, and I have this stupid, fucking contract in my hand and I have no idea what it says!” she hissed and immediately ducked down behind the counter to hide from the astonished stare of the only customer in the coffee shop at this time of night. “Finn, you know I’m not the best with… _these_ things.”

“Alright, alright.” Finn hummed soothingly. “You’re totally freaking out over this?”

“Of course I am! He’s paying for college! Like you’d be completely cool with something like that.”

A few beats passed before Finn quipped, “Is he hot?”

Rey stopped breathing and almost swallowed her tongue when she tried to wet her suddenly dry mouth. “Why are you asking?”

“He is!” Finn laughed. “Rey, just say yes to him. But if it’d put you at ease, I can check it over just so there’s no fine print that says you need to be available at all hours of the day for a quick romp in the-”

“Shut up! First of all, I have no idea how he looks. I haven’t seen him-”

“But he’s seen you, hasn’t he?”

Rey stopped, blinked, and thought about it. She honestly couldn’t tell. “I actually don’t know.”

“If he knows your name he’s probably found you on Facebook.”

Well.

She hadn’t thought of that.

“Uh, Finn… I’ll send you the document, but I really need to go now.”

“You’re looking him up on Facebook aren’t you?”

“No no, I have a customer here who needs a refill.”

“Jakku Java doesn’t have any customers.”

“Yes we do, I have _one_ customer,” she said, rising up from her hiding place behind the counter at the same time said customer rose from his seat and left the café. “Okay, I have zero customers, but that’s because the one I had just left!”

“Go look up your man, Rey.”

“He’s not my-”

“Bye, Peanut!”

“-man.” Rey pulled her phone down from her ear to stare at the ended call screen, sighing. “He’s not… mine.”

 

The research led absolutely nowhere. No matter how she searched she didn’t find a Kylo Ren anywhere. Not on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or any of the less reputable social media that she could think of. She got zero hits on Google, which was a surprise, because even if _you_ weren’t on the internet, at least someone else with the same name _was_.

Which only made her realize _Kylo Ren_ was most likely not this guy’s real name. And the name websites told her there weren’t any babies named Kylo. Unless it was a foreign name, which of course… sure that could be? But then she thought of the sound of his voice and how perfectly American it had sounded and she slapped herself once more for thinking about… his voice.

“And it’s not like foreigners can’t have perfect American accents, Rey!” she hissed under her breath, even if the library was completely empty of visitors. It was only her and the librarian who was… sleeping behind the desk checkout. And snoring.

To be fair, he’d been asleep when she entered the library to use the printer to scan the contract and send it to Finn.

Finn called her up after less than thirty minutes. “There’s nothing special in that document, except two things. One, he wants you to… write letters?”

“Yeah, sorry, I forgot to tell you about that”, Rey apologized. “I have no idea why, but sure…”

“Right. You knew about it. Well, that’s good. And whatever floats his boat, hey?” Finn laughed awkwardly. “Uhm, so well… The other thing though… I’m not sure you’re going to like it Rey. It’s not- It’s not a good one…”

“Finn, just tell me.”

“Well, there’s a clause in it stating that he’s in charge of all of your financial decisions.”

Rey sat back in her seat, breath knocked out of her. “I’m guessing that’s a bad thing?”

“Well, considering that he’s paying for college it’s not a completely unreasonable request to do… but-”

“But what?”

She could hear the swallow Finn made on the other end. “It’s phrased in such a way that you basically need to hear with him if you can have sushi or pizza for dinner.”

Rey’s insides froze as a heavy sensation settled in her stomach. Her fingertips started to feel numb, tingling where they touched the phone. Rey tightened her grip, fearing she’d drop it.

“Rey? Are you still there?” Finn’s voice broke through the din in her ears, and she made an acknowledging noise. “It’s very likely it doesn’t mean that, but maybe you should talk to him?”

Rey grunted. “Oh, I’m definitely going to talk to him,” she muttered and ended Finn’s call without a goodbye.

 

Of course, the only one she could talk to was Dopheld, and that’s just what she did as she cornered him at the one respectable motel (alright, it was the only motel) in Jakku and demanded an explanation of that financial clause.

Dopheld was quick to reassure her about Mr. Ren’s intentions—which was weird, because he didn’t even break a sweat and didn’t even flush—and, if Rey was totally honest with herself (something she tried to stay away from), she wasn’t exactly the easiest person to deal with, so it was really, really, _really_ weird.

“Of course he needs that clause in there. He’s giving you an allowance on top of the tuition and board, so it’s for his own financial security that it’s in there. He’s not going to care what you buy for lunch, but it wouldn’t be in his interest if you started to go on trips to Mexico on his allowance-”

“You were prepared to get this question,” Rey shot through his explanation.

Now the man finally flushed. Rey felt incrementally better.

“Yes. Mr. Ren thought you’d read it through thoroughly-”

“He knows about my best friend, doesn’t he?”

“Ah-”

“He does.”

“Uh, yes. He knows.”

“Is there something he _doesn’t_ know?”

Sweat started to bead on his forehead. Rey cracked a smile, which had the man frowning and his breathing increased to near panting.

 _Really?_ She wasn’t that scary. She dialed down her smile, but that didn’t seem to help as his eyes started flickering back and forth.

Finally, he sighed. “Fine. He knows all there is to know about you.”

Rey’s eyes widened, her jaw dropped.

This evening was just _filled_ with shocking information. Also, why did he want her to write to him if he knew _everything_ about her?

“Uh- Okay- That’s… totally not weirding me out at all…”

Dopheld seemed to know exactly where her thoughts went. “Well, he doesn’t _know_ you. But whatever official information there is about you, like the fact that you’re an orphan-”

“Oh, that’s just _lovely_.”

“-and he knows your grades-”

And he still wanted to pay for her education?Rey shrugged internally, thinking, _his loss_ , as she held up her hand before Dopheld spilled the beans about her run-ins with the local authorities.

“Please, just stop. Can we get back to the finance thing?”

“Don’t worry. As I said, it’s set in place for his security. And yours too.”

“How would that be in my favor?”

“I never said favor. But you’re going to go to college, where stupid kids make stupid choices and are you sure that you’re not going to get the most _brilliant_ idea the first time you’re both stoned and drunk at the same time?”

Rey blinked. “Well, when you put it that way…”

“Mr. Ren wanted me to let you know he’s not an unreasonable man-

Rey nearly blew a raspberry as he said it.

Reasonable people wrote emails. Or just stuck to texting.

He was _not_ a reasonable man.

“-but he’s not above putting his foot down when you act like a…”

Dopheld stopped and his skin flushed a tomatoish shade of red.

_Interesting._

“A what?” Rey prompted, and the man squirmed under her scrutiny. Rey held her breath because she thought she knew what he was about to say, and truly—she felt her own cheeks tint with the turn of her thoughts.

 _Stop it, Rey!_ If she’d been alone she would’ve slapped herself.

“A spoiled brat,” he said just as she sobered up.

Rey crossed her arms and laughed sardonically. “Oh, really?”

She, _spoiled_? Apparently, working three jobs made you spoiled.

“Pretty sure he meant if you accept the terms and grow complacent with the allowance.”

Pursing her lips, Rey rolled her eyes hard enough to almost hurt herself. Did he truly think she’d spend the allowance completely haphazardly as if she… was a _brat?_

She’d show him that she wasn’t that type of girl.

“Your boss is a bit of a douche.”

“You have no idea,” Dopheld said, releasing a slightly nervous laughter which succeeded in putting Rey at ease for the moment.

Satisfied with her impromptu visit, late at night, totally improper, but she didn’t give a crap, Rey biked back home after telling Mitaka she’d think a bit more on it.

“Just take it, just say yes,” was Finn’s response to the feedback. “Sure, he’s probably a pervert, but he’s paying.”

“You just want me to come to Coruscant.”

“Yeah, can you blame me? I miss you, you miss me. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. You’re getting a sugar daddy without the awkward sex stuffs, it’s a done deal, Rey.”

“But the letters-”

“Just write him shit. Hell, I’ll write the letters for you.”

“Uh, I’m pretty sure he’ll know if you do. He’s seen my handwriting.”

Finn quieted. “He has?”

Rey nodded as she gnawed on her lip. “I wrote on the sleeve of his cup the first time he was here.”

One, two beats passed. “And he wants you to write to him even though he’s seen it?”

Rey shrugged. “Obviously.”

“Okay, something’s _seriously_ wrong with him.”

“Yeah, well, _obviously_.”

“Yeah, because no one can read your handwriting.”

“Hey!”

“Sorry, but it’s true!”

Rey huffed in exasperation. “Whatever. I’ve decided. I’ll do it. I’ll sign the contract.”

Finn cheered so loudly Rey thought her ear would pop. “I’ll see you soon, Peanut!”

 

Rey signed the contract. Dopheld left Jakku once again with something that she’d put her imprint on, leaving her with the promise that everything would be taken care of if she only sent in her college application.

So she did. And like before, everything went back to normal. She continued to work her three jobs—even if she technically didn’t have to at this point. But keeping busy was a good thing, because if she stopped for a moment and thought of the ludicrousness of the entire situation she’d found herself in—well, it was still too unbelievable.

She got admitted to CorTech, which was another surprise in itself. Her grades shouldn’t have been enough to get accepted into the program she wanted, but there was no doubting the big fat Congratulations! in her email.

Did he have something to do with it? He had to, right? Well, she could always ask him. Perfect opportunity, and all that.

 

> _Hey, Mr. Ren_
> 
> _So I got accepted. I’m guessing you already knew that._
> 
> _Did you have anything to do with that?_
> 
> _Because tbh I should not have been accepted._
> 
> _Rey_
> 
> _PS. What sort of name is Kylo Ren anyway? I’ve checked, and you don’t even exist. Also, I’m not sorry about my chicken scrawl._

 

A week later she received a letter in her mail. The fancy thick and heavily textured paper of the envelope gave away the sender more than anything. The pretty lettering of her address, followed by the PO box of the return address was the second tell.

She traced her name a couple of times and wondered if it would smell just as expensive as it looked and felt if she sniffed it.

She did _not_ sniff on the letter.

But she may have taken a whiff of her fingers as she scratched her nose on the way up to her apartment.

There was no scent. None that she could tell anyway.

Once safely ensconced in her apartment she carefully tore open the envelope and found the same quality paper inside. He’d written on blank paper, proper letter paper—obviously. Rey’d just used a torn out paper from a notebook she still had lying around since her high school days.

How he managed to get his paragraphs so straight without lined paper was a mystery to her.

Also, had he written to her in another language or something, because she couldn’t actually read the letter-

Oh.

He’d written in cursive.

_Of course he had._

 

> Dear Miss Rey:
> 
> Yes, I already knew about your acceptance. Congratulations! You’re a big girl now.
> 
> You know you’re supposed to start your letter with a proper address? Like I did. ‘Dear Miss Rey:’ And the colon is because this isn’t really an informal letter. We don’t know each other enough for that.
> 
> I’ve acquired your future accommodations, more information about that and more should arrive in your mail within a few days if it hasn’t already.
> 
> Now would be a good time to resign from your three jobs.
> 
>  
> 
> Best regards
> 
> Kylo Ren
> 
>  
> 
> PS. My name is my name. And no, you won’t find me on the internet.
> 
> PPS. This is how you add another afterthought to the letter.
> 
> PPPS. I can read it just fine, but your spelling could do with a brush-up.
> 
> PPPPS. You’re supposed to put a return address on the envelope in case the letter ends up in the wrong place.

Rey scowled at the letter, pissed at his wording— _big girl?_ _Who the fuck does he think he is?_

Nor did she appreciate being told how to write her own letters—it wasn’t as if she’d received that sort of lessons in school, and she’d be damned if she looked up that sort of thing on her own.

And she couldn’t believe that she’d written to him, and received such a pompous letter in return and if she now decided to write him again, she’d have to wait another week to get any sort of response.

This was going to suck big time.

Rey knew about waiting, and she was _sick_ of it.

 

Rey had no intention to listen to Ren. So the next day, Rey went to work as usual. She did all her three shifts and went back home, ate, slept, and repeated the process the next day.

Three days after her letter from Ren she found several official looking letters in her mail slot. The first one she opened had her almost forget the sort of tone Ren used to put her in her place.

It was a contract for an on-campus room. After researching it for a bit, she found it was in one of the good (read: expensive) dorms—she’d basically share a two bedroom apartment with a roommate.

And maybe she squealed a little, but only for a short while (okay, so maybe it was a bit longer than a short while), but her excitement was shortlived as she ripped open the next letter and found a letter of termination for her apartment.

Rey carefully studied the paper, shock making the words infinitely harder to read than they usually were, but eventually she found the passage she was looking for-

Contract terminated by Kylo Ren on commission by Rey Smith.

“Like hell you did,” she muttered as she crumpled the letter in her hands. She pulled out her phone, ready to find Mr. Ren’s number in her contacts, but then she remembered-

She could only write to him.

Or, rather, to a fucking PO box all the way over in L.A.

An immediate answer to her fucking questions would have to wait.

But she could still write an angry letter to him.

 

> _Hey you (no I will not use Dear for you)_
> 
> _What the fuck is your problem? You didn’t say anything about canceling my lease._
> 
> _Do you derive some sort of twisted pleasure from this? Are you a sort of— oh wait- You’re some sort of sugar daddy, right!? I bet you totally get off on this._
> 
> _Well, nowhere in that stupid document of yours did it say I couldn’t insult you, so I’m going to go right ahead and do that, you sick ~~motherf~~_
> 
> _Okay, that was a little too strong. Still hate you._
> 
> _Regards (not that you’ve earned them)_
> 
> _Rey_

 

Rey finished the letter with her breath caught in her throat. She thought of tossing the letter in the trash. Something told her she couldn’t send this, not in the state it was in-

> _PS. The dorm looks really nice. I guess I’ll have to thank you for that._
> 
> _PPS. How the fuck do you write straight without lined paper?_

There, that was better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bit shorter than the first chapter. We're going to move on to the uni stuff in the next chapter. 
> 
> Oh! By the way, I'd love to hear about your own college/uni experiences! I've got the majority of the plot chiseled out, but I was the nerd/gamer in college, so I've got my set of experiences and it'd be fun to hear what sort of shenanigans you got up to (or any sort of fond/funny/weird memories you'd like to share with me). And if you're alright with it, let me know if you'd be alright with letting me use your stories as inspiration for this fic. Comment here, or find me on twitter or tumblr. My anon asks are open if that's more comfortable for you <3
> 
> I has tumblr: [@j-dryless](https://j-dryless.tumblr.com/)  
> And twitter: [@Drylesswrites](https://twitter.com/Drylesswrites)
> 
> Oh and here's the [masterpost-thingy](https://j-dryless.tumblr.com/post/178249060481/dear-kylo-ren-by-j-dryless-chapter-1-excerpt) for this fic if anyone feels inspired to reblog ;D


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